Political Participation Intern

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Women’s political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the role of women’s leadership in strong and stable democratic processes and inclusive societies. It is covered under the Entity’s Strategic Plan  Impact Area 1 – Participation and Governance in Public Life: “Women and girls participate in leadership and decision making and benefit from gender responsive governance.” One of the key initiatives to accelerate gender equality in this thematic area is to monitor progress in achieving the 50/50 gender balance in decision‑making at all levels through data collection and dissemination for SDG indicators under the custody of UN Women, including SDG indicator 5.5.1b (women’s representation in local government).

As part of this work, the Leadership and Decision‑Making Section of UN Women (a) has developed and updates country profiles on local government; (b) information on government systems and Heads of State and Government; (c) monitors legislative changes in electoral systems and gender quotas; (d) compiles and analyses data on women’s political participation; and (e) produces research and data‑driven analysis and knowledge products.

Within this framework, UN Women is seeking to recruit an intern to provide support to legislative reviews, literature review, and data monitoring undertaken by the Section. Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist on Local Government, the Intern will support ongoing work on key niche areas on women’s political participation including representation in local government, representation in executive positions, electoral information and data on women’s political participation, and women’s participation in political processes, including women’s suffrage.

• Support monitoring of legislative changes and legislative reviews on government systems, electoral systems and quotas, and local government organizations.
• Support data compilation on women’s political participation, including by mapping and compiling data produced by Electoral Management Bodies.
• Undertake reviews of research literature on different areas related to women’s political participation, as needed, including on women’s suffrage.
• Provide support to other activities in the women’s political participation area, including the organization of meetings on the topic, as needed.

• Increased knowledge of women’s political participation, local government organization, government systems, and electoral systems.
• Improved knowledge of global processes related to women’s political participation data, including SDGs.
• Exposure to a wide range of policy work and creation of knowledge products related to participation in political and public affairs that are developed within the Leadership and Decision‑Making Section of UN Women.

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

• Knowledge of gender equality and political participation.
• Ability to produce well‑written policy and/or research documents.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Keen interest in inclusive participation issues and gender equality.

• University studies in one of the following disciplines:
  Political Science, Social Sciences, Law, Human Rights, International Relations, Gender Studies or other relevant subjects required.
• Meet one of the following:
• Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher).
• Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor's level or…